These two December issues of Elle use gold as the main colour on their covers. Gold connotes glamour and also party season and Christmas. Cover lines such as 'Elle Gift Guide' and 'Easy Party Make Up' also connote the time of year as their audience is getting ready for Christmas. Furthermore, the cover line 'Style for Less' connotes that during this time of year, their audience are spending more money on other things, such as gifts, therefore want to find cheaper clothes than any other time of year. The masthead is in the same place on both of the magazines, suggesting they have the same placing of the mast head on every magazine. This makes the magazine very recognisable. The font is simplistic, which gives the magazine a sophisticated and glamorous feel. The magazine seems to stick to a clear colour theme, not using too many colours to keep the elegant and sophisticated feel.
June Issues
These two issues of Elle clearly connote summertime through the colours used on the covers and also the cover lines. In the top cover, they use three colours to connote summer, pink, light blue and white. These colours also give the magazine a polished and sophisticated look as their isn't too much colour, therefore not drawing away from the main image. The rule of thirds is evident in both magazine covers, adding to the simplistic and sophisticated look. Pink seems to be the main colour used on both magazine covers, as it is associated with the female audience and also reflects the season. The main image is of current female celebrities that the audience are interested in. Cover lines such as 'summer dressing' also connote the season.
The majority of the people who answered my questionnaire were female. This indicates that women are the main target audience for my magazine as later on in my results I find they are most interested in fashion and beauty magazines, which fits the magazine genre I want to make.
Furthermore, the majority of people who answered my questionnaire are aged between 15-18 but the rest were between 19-25. This indicates my target audience's age and it also indicates to me that females of these age categories are the most interested in beauty and fashion, therefore are more likely to read my magazine.
I found that most people would spend between £2-£3.99 on a magazine. Similar magazines to my genre, such as Vogue and Elle charge £3.99 for their magazines. Therefore this fits perfectly with my target audience and genre.
It seems that my target audience are most likely to read Vogue, as seen above. This indicates to me that my target audience are interested in high end magazines like the magazine I want to create.
From these answers I can see what my target audience want to see in a fashion magazine. They expect to see high end clothing, adverts for brands such as Chanel , articles on models and beauty articles.
Most of my target audience like to look at high end fashion, therefore I can include more expensive looking clothing within my magazine. Furthermore, this statistic is also backed up by a high majority of my target audience saying the magazine they're most likely to read is Vogue.
In conclusion, my questionnaire portrays that my target audience of young women are interested in fashion and beauty, and also like to look at high end fashion. My questionnaire has also helped to show me what my target audience expect from a fashion magazine, therefore helping me determine what will be included within the magazine, influencing the cover lines.
On these two December issues of Vogue, red and silver colours are used to connote Christmas. Red and silver a typical colours seen at Christmas, therefore are used on the December cover. Furthermore, the cover lines such as 'Sparkle' and 'naughty but nice also connote Christmas. There aren't too many colours, making the cover look slick and sophisticated. Vogue is a very well known magazine, therefore the main image usually covers the masthead as everyone knows the company well. The cover lines appeal to the audience as they're mostly about beauty and fashion, as the audience buys the magazine primarily to read about fashion and beauty. Furthermore, the main image is usually a well known woman, a model, actress or singer for example. This is because these women are inspirational and represent the target audience's age of 18-35. The social economic grouping for this magazine would be As, Bs and C1s. This is evident as the price of the magazine is quite high (£3.99). Moreover, the fashion and beauty items featured are expensive, featuring brands such as Chanel, Gucci and Prada.
June Issues
On these two June issues the colours used are mostly pink and white. These two colours connote summer and are also quite girl related colours. Furthermore, the cover lines relate to the season, for example 'Sensational Summer'. The main image is of a model, dressed in expensive clothes. Both models look fresh-faced, reflecting the season also. The cover lines also present what the magazine is about, for example 'real style' denotes the magazine has articles on style as the audience buys the magazine primarily to read about fashion and beauty. The social economic grouping for this magazine would be As, Bs and C1s. This is evident as the price of the magazine is quite high (£3.99). Depending on the time of year depends on the colours, cover lines and main image that appear on the magazine cover. Therefore, depending on the time of year, the codes and conventions of magazine covers change as the audience expects to see cover lines related to the season, as well as colourers reflecting the time of year. Futhermore, the main image is always a very current person, in this instance Kate Moss.
On this Vogue cover we see Cara Delevigne who is a very popular model at the moment. The social economic grouping for this magazine is prodominately As and Bs as the clothes featured in the magazine are designer, therefore only As and Bs would be able to afford the clothing. The target audience is women between the ages of 20-35 who are interested in high end fashion and have £4.10 to spend This is because women of those ages are more likely to be in a well paying job, putting them into the A and B catagories. A secondary audience would be fans of Cara Delevigne. Furthermore, Cara is well known for modelling for designer brands which also reinforces the social economic group. From the coverlines it is evident the magazine is based around fashion.
The main cover line is 'Spring Fashion Special' which denotes the magazine is about fashion, appealing to the target audience. All of the cover lines are about fashion, which portrays what the whole magazine is about. The main image of Cara is mostly based around her face and not her clothing, drawing attention to her. This is the cover of British Vogue and this is portrayed through the red, white and blue of the cover. Using Cara as the main image is useful as she is highly linked to designer brands such as Mulberry and Chanel. Furthermore, the cover line 'Model of the year' portrays Cara in a positive, respectable light and the high key lighting reflects how the spotlight is on her. The masthead is at the top and in white. Vogue is a very iconic fashion magazine, therefore most people know what the magazine is about.
How do the following technical elements add to the understanding of the narrative?
Mise-en-scene
Camera
Lighting
Editing
Sound
Blame It On Me - George Ezra
The music video portrays bad luck experienced by George Ezra and this is portrayed in various ways.
Mise-en-Scene
At the beginning of the music video, we see his surroundings. He is on a derelict, rundown street, with graffiti on walls, yellow doors and walls, which presents the 'yellow brick road' the elderly man George is first seen with describes it as. George is dressed quite smartly, in a shirt and black trousers, carrying his guitar. The use of the 'yellow brick road' and him holding a guitar suggests George is trying to follow his dreams as a musician. Palm trees can also be seen in the background which suggests its in a foreign country. This is also connoted through the old man speaking in a different language. There are two girls shown in the video. One is wearing a top which seems to say 'Meet The Stars' which suggests George is trying to make it as a star. George is then seen to have bird faeces fall on him, again connoting his bad luck. The colour of the substance is golden, again reiterating the 'yellow brick road theme'. This is re-enforced when he looks in the car door and the young boy shoots him with a toy gun. This also connotes how no matter what he does, it always ends badly. His bad luck is continually portrayed, for example the dog biting his hand and then his guitar falling out of the case and getting ran over. The guitar, furthermore, may represent his music career failing. The rain just on him is pathetic fallacy, portraying his mood. The whole music video is shot on the road which may suggest it is never ending and George has always got to work hard to reach his goal, the end of the 'yellow brick road'.
Camera
Various different camera angles and shots are used throughout the video. At the start of the video, there is an establishing shot of the road, showing the location of the setting. We see a long shot of George and the foreign man, again showing the location and also showing the man walking away from George. This also gives the audience chance to see George's attire and the fact he's holding a guitar. As the music video progresses, there are a lot of close ups of George, to portray his facial expressions to the bad luck he experiences. The camera follows George most of the time, therefore making it seem as if it is handheld. The camera angles seem to stay at eye level, however at the beginning of the music video, the camera starts at a high angle and pans down to a eye level angle. This helps establish the setting and also show the birds in the sky, which indicate to where the substance, George gets hit by as the music video progresses, comes from. We also see a birds-eye view shot when the substance falls on him, as the substance has come from a bird, therefore the audience sees it from the bird's point of view and adds to the effect. Dolly shots can also be seen as they follow George down the road, however it seems the camera movements are mostly hand held, to get the close ups.
Lighting
The lighting remains natural lighting, however it seems slightly softened. This contracts with the chain of events and the mood within the music video, as the mood is hard, almost connoting annoyance due to the continuing sequence of bad things happening to him. However, when it rains, the lighting becomes a little harder to portray the clouds overhead, raining on him. It also connotes the mood of the video, using pathetic fallacy to do so. The hard lighting also contrasts with the soft lighting used showing the other people in sunlight.
Editing
The editing doesn't seem to be fast paced, with each clip lasting around 4-10 seconds at a time. The effect of this is to clearly show the chain of events happening. Some parts of the video are in slow motion which, again, allows the audience to see clearly what is happening within the video. Various clips are edited together to show different perspectives of the situation. An example of this would be the rugby players running towards him. There is a clip of the rugby player's expression, then of him running. The transition between clips seem to be straight cut, with no transition visible. Being straight cut may connote that the road he is travelling down may seem straight forward, however he finds that its not as straight forward as it first seemed.
Sound
There is the non-diegetic sound of the music, however we see George mouth the words as if it is coming out of his mouth. There are various diegetic sounds, for example the man at the beginning speaking to George. We also have enhanced sounds which are made to seem diegetic. An example of this would be the sound of the dog biting him. The enhancement of this sound, overlaying it with the music portrays the realness of the situation.
At beginning of the programme, we see different insects which add an eerie effect to the start of the programme, as insects are seen as quite scary. We then see a man running through the woods, which immediately builds tension because the audience doesn't what he is running from. Seeing the dead child is quite shocking because it's not what the audience may have expected to have happened.
Camera
At the start, we see close ups of insects, which shows clearly what is being shown and adds to the location which we then see through a long shot. However, the location isn't really clear because that action starts almost immediately. Canted angles are used to portray confusion of the situation, which reflects the way the character is feeling. It also reflects the way the audience feel as they don't know whats happening or what the man is running from. The camera seems hand held due to the canted angles, following his movement.
Lighting
The lighting is low key and hard at the beginning which connotes the mood of the scene as being eerie. Once the running scene has ended and we see the forensic scientists around the dead child, the lighting becomes high key which may connote that the child is peaceful.
Editing
At the beginning of the programme, when we see the man running, the editing is fast paced, to represent the action within the scene. The clips are short which makes the scene confusing because the audience only sees short snippets of whats happening.
Sound
Diegetic and non-diegetic sounds can both be identified throughout the programme. At the beginning of the programme the audience hears the sounds of the woods, which helps portray the setting. When the man starts running, we hear non-diegetic tension music to add to the scene.
The representation of class shown here is upper class. It's a positive representation because it shows Prince Harry doing a good thing, putting the Invictus Games for injured troops. The values represented are doing selfless things for others. They're represented through a role model and highly valued person, doing something to help others. Its representing the upper class in a positive way. The messages and values being represented here of that of respect for Prince Harry and the royal family. Moreover, the image shown on this article shows the prince talking to the injured troops which presents that he is directly involved in the games.
Gender - Tv Show
Orange is the New Black is a tv programme where all of the main characters are female, representing women in a empowering way. The main character, Piper, is a stereotypical white girl, blonde hair, young and privileged. She is represented in this way to contrast between the other characters, who really break away from stereotypes. Furthermore, the programmedoesn’t shy away from highlighting the real-life topics shaping the viewpoints of women who stand on either side of the prison walls; religion, race, culture, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, mental health, gender identity, ethnicity, relationships, and drug abuse. It breaks away from the female stereotype, showing women in a new light. Women are stereotypically seen to be domesticated, the damsel in distress and There are characters of all ethnicities, and even though prisoners aren't the ideal role model for young girls, there is a character that each woman can relate to. Netflix values are that of entertainment and addressing a wide audience.
Age - Film
In this scene from Hot Fuzz, the stereotype of age is tested. When thinking of the elderly, what usually comes to mind is frail, in need of assistance and not violent. However, in this scene, elderly are the antagonist, pictured shooting at the protagonist. This really tests the stereotype as we do not expect this of someone of that age. This brings humour to the scene. Furthermore, in the scene, a group of teenagers are shown to help the protagonist, which represents them to also be a protagonist. Usually, teens are stereotyped to be trouble makers and no help in society. This scene tests this stereotype as they are shown to be doing good. The values of the scene is to test the typical stereotypes and show another side to people we often assume to possess certain characteristics.
Race - Tv Show
In the tv programme The Simpsons, Apu is the token Asian, whereas all the other characters are white (yellow). The character of Apu is a very stereotypical character. He is represented to be very religious, shown in the clip above, and he also possesses the stereotypical accent of an Asian. During his prayer, he talks about rice and curry which is a stereotypical food that we associated with India. He is used for the majority to make humour from, due to his extremely stereotypical trates.
